Production of Biomaterials from Solid Biomass Wastes for the Mining Industry

Alam, Shafiq (2013) Production of Biomaterials from Solid Biomass Wastes for the Mining Industry. Project Report. The Harris Centre.

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Abstract

Newfoundland and Labrador has very rich mineral resources. The mining industry in this province produces more than a dozen different mineral commodities. On the other hand, this province is producing huge amounts of solid biomass wastes everyday. Some of them are re-used, but mostly they are land-filled. With innovative, applied research these biomass wastes can be turned into more value added products for the mining industry. For example, wood wastes/saw dust, waste paper and waste cotton are some solid wastes that can easily be converted into high-tech biomaterials (bioadsorbents) for gold recovery from a dilute solution. Those solid wastes are cellulosic, they have a strong affinity to gold when converted to its functional group in a very simple and cheap process. In this project, we have carried out some innovative applied research to produce bioadsorbents derived from solid biomass wastes, such as waste paper, waste cotton and waste wood/saw dust, which are abundantly available in this province and need proper management to increase their life-cycle. Every day tons of waste paper and cardboard are being generated. Sources of waste cotton are old cloths, waste medical bandages, etc. Wood waste is also very abundant in this province. When compared with the ever increasing gold prices (currently ~$1700/oz), the face value of these solid wastes will jump from garbage to hi-tech market value. Proper management and effective use of such solid biomass wastes as valuable bioadsorbents will not only reduce the volume of wastes being generated every day, but will also have a high end value to the gold mining industry as this cheap bioadsorbent will have superior performance over the traditionally used activated carbon. Both the mining and waste management companies in this province will benefit from this research.

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